House Oversight and Government Reform Committee

Waste Watch

Gene Dodaro, the Comptroller General of the United States and head of the Government Accountability Office, presents the 2011 High-Risk List.  The latest edition was just published in February, and draws attention to a wide range of potentially wasteful programs like Medicare and Pentagon weapons purchases.

UPDATED 18:09 PM EST, February 15, 2013 | BY Phillip Swarts

Congress' main investigative arm, the Government Accountability Office, has released its latest list of government programs at high-risk of waste, fraud and abuse, continuing a tradition of providing lawmakers with the report every two years at the start of a new Congress.

And most on this year's list are long-time, repeat offenders.

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UPDATED 6:56 AM EST, February 18, 2013

U.S. Unwittingly Aiding Iran?

The government's chief watchdog for Afghanistan reconstruction is warning that U.S. fuel purchases in that country are so mismanaged that American money could be aiding Iran in violation of international sanctions.

"The United States could be the biggest violator of the oil embargo," Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John Sopko told lawmakers on Wednesday.  "We have no real controls in place.”

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UPDATED 21:47 PM EST, December 26, 2012

The Government's Graveyard of Inaction

The next time you hear government officials insist they're doing all they can to save federal money or ensure safety, consider this: the U.S. Transportation Department has yet to complete more than 600 action items, some dating back to 2004, that were recommended by its internal watchdog to help protect taxpayers.

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UPDATED 20:57 PM EDT, November 2, 2012

Slow Walking The Truth?

The former head of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives told congressional investigators he discovered the Obama administration's original account to Congress about the Fast and Furious gun scandal was inaccurate as early as March 2011 and urged the Justice Department to correct the record, an action that did not formally occur until eight months later.

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